I'm Here With Magazine Issue 1 - Page 63

11. Your favorite passage or quote?

Ironically, my favorite passages and quotes aren’t necessarily from film or TV. For example, my favorite quote is from the founder of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford. He said “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” And of course, I try to live my life by the golden rule – “Treat others as you want to be treated”.

12. What is something most people don’t know about you?

Most people – apart from those closest to me – may be surprised to know what a big softy I am. I can be a sensitive and emotional soul, but a lot of people just tend to see the tattoos, the shaved head, and the broken nose – thus giving them the impression that I’m a “tough guy” – which I’m not.

13. What roles do you like to play in film?

I think most guys want to play the action roles – and once again, because of my look, I know there’s the likelihood of me being cast as the bad guy, the cop, the secret service agent, the MMA guy, etc. But although I like to be stretched as an actor, I’m also happy to be cast in the aforementioned types of roles. After all, certain actors who have a similar look to me are making extremely lucrative careers out of those types of roles – Jason Statham, Andrew Howard, Bruce Willis, etc.

14. Do you ever incorporate your Karate Skills in film?

My Black Belts are actually in Karate and in JuJitsu, and now, due to the popularity of MMA through the UFC and so on, JuJitsu is becoming more familiar to the masses. However, so far, I haven’t been able to use my martial arts skills on camera….. but I’m hoping I will at some point.

15. Who are your idols in entertainment?

“Idols” is a strong term – but who would I like to work with? There are many – but my preference would be to work with the more diverse actors, such as Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, Leonardo DeCaprio, etc.

16. What are your favorite film?

I sometimes want to simply be entertained. That’s when I’d choose a good action flick.

Sometimes I want escapism, so I’d choose a good Sci-fi.

If I want to be moved, I’d choose something like “The Green Mile” or “The Shawshank Redemption."

And if I want my brain to be engaged, I’d probably go for something like “Lucky Number Slevin”, “The Usual Suspects”, “Se7en”, that kinda thing.

17. How has being on AMC changed things for you and your path in your career?

I heard a statistic that stated that Hell On Wheels is seen in 20 countries by around 50 million viewers. That’s pretty substantial, so I think being on the final 3 seasons of that show has allowed my face and name to be a bit more recognized within the industry, and it’s given me a certain credibility as an actor – especially when you bear in mind that when I auditioned for the role, I was only ever meant to have one line in one scene of one episode, and then I was meant to be gone – a throw away character – but the production saw something in me that they liked, hence I was written in as a recurring character, so my one line turned into 3 seasons.